Buff upgrade
While the driver and the command system got beaten up for the event, it is interesting to note that the spoiler response was being saturated quite early in the left turn that Holland entered. The speed and the bank resulted in exceeding the authority of the spoiler system, and the rudder, well, we have just commented on the rudder's authority. Occasionally, limits are there for very good reasons, bank limits on the Buff were rational, and needed to be respected.
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somewhere on here there's a thread about that crash
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/roll...ts-by-year-end
Rolls-Royce on track for B-52 engine tests by year end
Rolls-Royce is finalising initial testing of the F130 engine for the United States Air Force B-52J Stratofortress by the conclusion of this year.
Rolls-Royce on track for B-52 engine tests by year end
Rolls-Royce is finalising initial testing of the F130 engine for the United States Air Force B-52J Stratofortress by the conclusion of this year.
Was chatting to one of the B52 crew at RIAT about the upgrade - he said that apart from the reliability & endurance benefits, the engine pods would throw off a lot more electrical power which could have all manner of benefits (EW, comms, etc).
yes which why they are going to be able to power an F-18 radar thats getting installed
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
A recent Office of the Under Secretary of Defense solicitation provides the best insight yet into range requirements from the USAF's high-speed Cruise Missile dev. efforts. According to the notice, USAF is looking at the Air-Breathing Cruise Missile to exceed 1000 miles.
As per the notice, AF Global Strike Command is developing a new conventional High Speed, ABCM capable of range >1K miles to be carried by the B52 that is expected to exceed the capacity of the existing conventional W pylon & Heavy Stores Adapter Beam thus requiring a redesign.
One option the Air Force is considering is repurposing the existing SUU-67/A Aircraft Pylon for conventional use. The SUU-67/A is currently used to carry the AGM-86/B Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM).
The success criteria for this effort as per the solicitation will be the delivery of an modified SUU-67/A prototype. The modified SUU-67/A prototype will be delivered as an ready-to-integrate & ready-to-flight demonstrate asset as per the notice.
https://www.sbir.gov/node/2479843
Potential conflicts in the Pacific region will need dozens of cruise missiles in mass attacks against hostile forces. B-52 would carry 8 missiles internal and 12 on external underwing pylons. Without the modified pylon, capacity would see a 60% reduction as per the notice.
As per the notice, AF Global Strike Command is developing a new conventional High Speed, ABCM capable of range >1K miles to be carried by the B52 that is expected to exceed the capacity of the existing conventional W pylon & Heavy Stores Adapter Beam thus requiring a redesign.
One option the Air Force is considering is repurposing the existing SUU-67/A Aircraft Pylon for conventional use. The SUU-67/A is currently used to carry the AGM-86/B Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM).
The success criteria for this effort as per the solicitation will be the delivery of an modified SUU-67/A prototype. The modified SUU-67/A prototype will be delivered as an ready-to-integrate & ready-to-flight demonstrate asset as per the notice.
https://www.sbir.gov/node/2479843
Potential conflicts in the Pacific region will need dozens of cruise missiles in mass attacks against hostile forces. B-52 would carry 8 missiles internal and 12 on external underwing pylons. Without the modified pylon, capacity would see a 60% reduction as per the notice.
Holland was a hotdog pilot who exceeded the limits and should justifiably be blamed for the crash. I well remember this event - this was not an aircraft issue, it was a driver issue. Watching video of that crash all I can think is how did the pilot imagine any lift would be generated at that bank angle; at his altitude there was no escape. This was not a crop duster; spoiler response did not cause this crash.
No argument that the. Fairchild event was directly caused by violation of the Dash 1. However, command had repeatedly failed to act in response to deliberate violations. The comment on the lateral direction stability is that the assumption that exceeding limits is merely a violation of a boiler plate standard limit is not always the case. Many aircraft can exceed the envelope of the certification without a catastrophic consequence. Some cannot. The loss of control had occurred well before the nose starts to drop at Fairchild, The attitude limits on the Buff are not just empty words, exceeding them can lead to loss of control. Holland routinely breached the Dash 1, command looked the other way, and some good people died needlessly due to the whole sorry disregard of regulations, obligation and common sense.
Most tragically, and IIRC, the poor chap in the right seat was there that day with the express purpose of pulling Holland from flying duties. It still is a shocking video to watch all these years later. The last 15 seconds or so must have been absolutely terrifying. Did/does the B52 carry a CVR?
It did not have a CVR at that time.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
7 years to integrate a proven commercial engine onto a proven jet that’s been in service for over 60 years…..
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024...ngines-tested/
Tinker Air Force base readies for B-52 upgrades as engines tested
The Air Force expects to finish qualification testing of the new engines planned for the B-52 Stratofortress by the end of 2024.
And the service plans to make a Milestone B decision on the Commercial Engine Replacement Program by the end of the summer, which would allow it to move into its engineering and manufacturing development phase, officials said in an interview with Defense News.….
The Air Force knows the F130 engine works, Cleaver said, since a version of it has powered the Gulfstream G650 business jet for years. But the F130s will be mounted differently on the B-52, and the Air Force needs to make sure there aren’t any surprises with the bomber’s twin-pod, under-wing configuration.
Rolls-Royce last year completed much of the initial twin-pod testing of the F130 engines at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Cleaver said, and the last six-week test cycle there is expected to start in early March. Those tests will involve exposing the engine pods to cross-wind blowers, and seeing what happens if one engine in the pod has to operate at reduced power or is even inoperative.
More tests will follow, Foreman said. In April, the F130 will start sea-level performance testing on a stand at a Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis. Another engine will undergo durability testing through 2025, Cleaver said. And this fall, F130 testing will move to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee, where it will be subjected to simulated altitudes to produce more data on how it might behave in flight.
Once that round is done, they said, the F130 will have finished its qualification testing that ensures it would be safe to fly, and pave the way for test modifications to begin.
The first two test B-52s will be modified at Boeing’s San Antonio, Texas facility beginning in 2026. It will take a few years to upgrade these bombers for the first time, Cleaver said, and ground and flight tests will go from late 2028 to 2031.
After this year’s testing, Boeing will set up four systems integration laboratories to ensure adding the new engines onto the B-52 will go smoothly, Cleaver said. Three will be in Oklahoma City, near Tinker Air Force Base, and the fourth — focusing on the engines’ electrical systems — will be at a Boeing facility near Seattle.
“We have a mix of simulated functions and hardware … functions to make sure that our systems are working with each other, and that we’re not using the test aircraft as our place to find problems,” Cleaver said. The labs “will really prove out the design before we even cut into a jet.”….
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024...ngines-tested/
Tinker Air Force base readies for B-52 upgrades as engines tested
The Air Force expects to finish qualification testing of the new engines planned for the B-52 Stratofortress by the end of 2024.
And the service plans to make a Milestone B decision on the Commercial Engine Replacement Program by the end of the summer, which would allow it to move into its engineering and manufacturing development phase, officials said in an interview with Defense News.….
The Air Force knows the F130 engine works, Cleaver said, since a version of it has powered the Gulfstream G650 business jet for years. But the F130s will be mounted differently on the B-52, and the Air Force needs to make sure there aren’t any surprises with the bomber’s twin-pod, under-wing configuration.
Rolls-Royce last year completed much of the initial twin-pod testing of the F130 engines at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Cleaver said, and the last six-week test cycle there is expected to start in early March. Those tests will involve exposing the engine pods to cross-wind blowers, and seeing what happens if one engine in the pod has to operate at reduced power or is even inoperative.
More tests will follow, Foreman said. In April, the F130 will start sea-level performance testing on a stand at a Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis. Another engine will undergo durability testing through 2025, Cleaver said. And this fall, F130 testing will move to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee, where it will be subjected to simulated altitudes to produce more data on how it might behave in flight.
Once that round is done, they said, the F130 will have finished its qualification testing that ensures it would be safe to fly, and pave the way for test modifications to begin.
The first two test B-52s will be modified at Boeing’s San Antonio, Texas facility beginning in 2026. It will take a few years to upgrade these bombers for the first time, Cleaver said, and ground and flight tests will go from late 2028 to 2031.
After this year’s testing, Boeing will set up four systems integration laboratories to ensure adding the new engines onto the B-52 will go smoothly, Cleaver said. Three will be in Oklahoma City, near Tinker Air Force Base, and the fourth — focusing on the engines’ electrical systems — will be at a Boeing facility near Seattle.
“We have a mix of simulated functions and hardware … functions to make sure that our systems are working with each other, and that we’re not using the test aircraft as our place to find problems,” Cleaver said. The labs “will really prove out the design before we even cut into a jet.”….
15 Years After Start: B-52 Bomber With Rolls-Royce Engines Wont Fly Until 2033 (msn.com)
Rolls-Royce F130 engines provide lower maintenance, improved fuel economy (as well as extended range). Along with the engines, the program will see the B-52s receive new engine struts, electrical power generation systems, and cockpit displays. A critical radar upgrade program for the B-52s is also delayed.
The program only delivered a virtual prototype in 2023. It is now planned to spend nine years developing and testing the physical prototypes before they are initial capability in mid-fiscal year 2033. Once they are upgraded, the B-52s will receive the new designation B-52J.
he GAO reports that the delays are partly from underestimating the "level of funding needed to complete the detailed design activities." The GAO has noted a 12.6% cost increase since the 2021 cost estimate. Going forward, this may be remedied. Inside Defense noted after trawling through the Air Force's 2025 Fiscal Year budget that there's a request to increase the CERP's funding by $1 billion from around $8 billion to $9 billion.
B-52s carry nuclear and conventional weapons, and they are also planned to carry hypersonic missiles (currently in development). The B-52 bomber is expected to outlive the aircraft built to replace it, like the B-1 Lancer and likely the B-2 Spirit. It will serve alongside the B-21 Raider now in low-rate production (although it will fill very different missions). The last B-52s were built in 1962 - meaning that some of the aircraft may live to be almost 100 years old (at least around 90 years old).
15 Years After Start: B-52 Bomber With Rolls-Royce Engines Wont Fly Until 2033
- B-52J delayed to 2033 due to funding and design activities underestimates.
- B-52s to fly until at least 2050 with new engines for improved fuel economy and range.
- B-52 to outlive B-1 and B-2 bombers, and will receive AESA radars for improved situational awareness.
B-52J delayed to 2033
The Air Force's B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (B-52 CERP) is the program to replace the Stratofortress engines. Currently, they are equipped with eight out-of-production Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines. The plan is to substitute them one-for-one with new Rolls-Royce F130 engines. The F130 or BR700 family of Rolls-Royce engines are found on Bombardiers, Gulfstreams, Boeing 717s, and the upcoming Dassault Falcon 10X.Rolls-Royce F130 engines provide lower maintenance, improved fuel economy (as well as extended range). Along with the engines, the program will see the B-52s receive new engine struts, electrical power generation systems, and cockpit displays. A critical radar upgrade program for the B-52s is also delayed.
The program only delivered a virtual prototype in 2023. It is now planned to spend nine years developing and testing the physical prototypes before they are initial capability in mid-fiscal year 2033. Once they are upgraded, the B-52s will receive the new designation B-52J.
he GAO reports that the delays are partly from underestimating the "level of funding needed to complete the detailed design activities." The GAO has noted a 12.6% cost increase since the 2021 cost estimate. Going forward, this may be remedied. Inside Defense noted after trawling through the Air Force's 2025 Fiscal Year budget that there's a request to increase the CERP's funding by $1 billion from around $8 billion to $9 billion.
B-52s to out-live replacement bombers
The B-52s are expected to fly until at least 2050 - and possibly beyond. Upgrading the engines is just one of the ways the Air Force is extending the B-52 service. The War Zone also noted that the Air Force is planning to install active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars derived from the AN/APG-79 radar (versions of this radar are found on Super Hornets and Growlers). The radar, with its greater range and fidelity, will provide the B-52J with greater situational awareness.B-52s carry nuclear and conventional weapons, and they are also planned to carry hypersonic missiles (currently in development). The B-52 bomber is expected to outlive the aircraft built to replace it, like the B-1 Lancer and likely the B-2 Spirit. It will serve alongside the B-21 Raider now in low-rate production (although it will fill very different missions). The last B-52s were built in 1962 - meaning that some of the aircraft may live to be almost 100 years old (at least around 90 years old).
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024...-b-52-bombers/
Congress wants to restore nukes on conventional B-52 bombers
Congress is laying the groundwork to restore nuclear weapon capabilities on roughly 30 B-52H Stratofortress bombers that had been converted to drop only conventional munitions as part of the New START arms control treaty with Russia.
Both the Senate and House defense policy bills for fiscal 2025 would require the Air Force to once again make these conventional bombers part of the nuclear triad nearly a decade after removing those capabilities to comply with limits under the New START treaty. The current treaty is set to expire in February 2026.
Lawmakers are eager to beef up the U.S. nuclear arsenal given Russia’s suspension of the treaty and China’s rapidly expanding strategic warhead production. Opponents of the measure argue that the directives will make it more difficult to negotiate a new treaty while complicating efforts to significantly extend the lifespan of the B-52 bomber fleet first introduced during the Cold War.
“The treaty expires in 2026, and the prospect of Russia coming to the table for serious arms control discussions is incredibly unlikely,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said last week upon introducing the amendment to the FY25 defense policy bill, legislation the House passed 217-199 on Friday. “We need to be prepared to face a nuclear environment without any treaty limitations.”
The House bill would require the Air Force to begin reconverting the bombers within a month after the current treaty expires and complete the restoration of their nuclear capabilities by 2029. The House passed the B-52 amendment by voice vote over opposition from Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
“The Department of Defense is not interested in doing this,” said Smith. “What they’re interested in doing is investing in the B-21, which is the next generation nuclear-capable bomber. This would cost a great deal of money. Also, they’re currently trying to extend the life of a number of B-52s out to 2050, which they think they can do. This would be another added expense to that.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 22-3 on Friday to advance its version of the bill with a similar provision directing the restoration of nuclear capabilities across the entire B-52 fleet.
The Air Force’s 76 B-52s are the oldest bombers in its fleet and have been flying since the early 1960s. During the Cold War, the Air Force flew nuclear-armed Stratofortresses along the edge of Soviet airspace.
Today, it remains one of the key elements of the U.S. nuclear triad, and is capable of carrying the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, or ALCM, nuclear weapon. Not all B-52s have that capability. The Air Force in 2015 began removing nuclear capabilities from about 30 B-52Hs to comply with New START requirements….
Mark Gunzinger, a former B-52 pilot and director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said that if it does happen, the reconversions would probably take place during depot maintenance at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, as the B-52 fleet receives top-to-bottom upgrades.….
Gunzinger said that with Russia no longer adhering to the New START treaty, it makes sense to bolster the B-52 fleet’s nuclear capabilities given the potential threats the United States could face from China and Russia, as well as Iran and North Korea.
“We’re now facing a situation where there’s two nuclear peers,” Gunzinger told Defense News. “We have a nuclear triad that’s sized for a single nuclear peer, Russia.”
Gunzinger said the restoration could probably be done without much difficulty. The necessary wiring is probably still in place, he said, and physical components that had been removed could be re-installed.
“It’s doable, and that’s the beauty of maintaining bombers that can be re-equipped with the appropriate [nuclear weapons] components,” he said. “It’s a hedge against future uncertainty, and we are now in a future where it’s not one that we expected, even just a few short years ago.”
Congress wants to restore nukes on conventional B-52 bombers
Congress is laying the groundwork to restore nuclear weapon capabilities on roughly 30 B-52H Stratofortress bombers that had been converted to drop only conventional munitions as part of the New START arms control treaty with Russia.
Both the Senate and House defense policy bills for fiscal 2025 would require the Air Force to once again make these conventional bombers part of the nuclear triad nearly a decade after removing those capabilities to comply with limits under the New START treaty. The current treaty is set to expire in February 2026.
Lawmakers are eager to beef up the U.S. nuclear arsenal given Russia’s suspension of the treaty and China’s rapidly expanding strategic warhead production. Opponents of the measure argue that the directives will make it more difficult to negotiate a new treaty while complicating efforts to significantly extend the lifespan of the B-52 bomber fleet first introduced during the Cold War.
“The treaty expires in 2026, and the prospect of Russia coming to the table for serious arms control discussions is incredibly unlikely,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said last week upon introducing the amendment to the FY25 defense policy bill, legislation the House passed 217-199 on Friday. “We need to be prepared to face a nuclear environment without any treaty limitations.”
The House bill would require the Air Force to begin reconverting the bombers within a month after the current treaty expires and complete the restoration of their nuclear capabilities by 2029. The House passed the B-52 amendment by voice vote over opposition from Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
“The Department of Defense is not interested in doing this,” said Smith. “What they’re interested in doing is investing in the B-21, which is the next generation nuclear-capable bomber. This would cost a great deal of money. Also, they’re currently trying to extend the life of a number of B-52s out to 2050, which they think they can do. This would be another added expense to that.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 22-3 on Friday to advance its version of the bill with a similar provision directing the restoration of nuclear capabilities across the entire B-52 fleet.
The Air Force’s 76 B-52s are the oldest bombers in its fleet and have been flying since the early 1960s. During the Cold War, the Air Force flew nuclear-armed Stratofortresses along the edge of Soviet airspace.
Today, it remains one of the key elements of the U.S. nuclear triad, and is capable of carrying the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, or ALCM, nuclear weapon. Not all B-52s have that capability. The Air Force in 2015 began removing nuclear capabilities from about 30 B-52Hs to comply with New START requirements….
Mark Gunzinger, a former B-52 pilot and director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said that if it does happen, the reconversions would probably take place during depot maintenance at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, as the B-52 fleet receives top-to-bottom upgrades.….
Gunzinger said that with Russia no longer adhering to the New START treaty, it makes sense to bolster the B-52 fleet’s nuclear capabilities given the potential threats the United States could face from China and Russia, as well as Iran and North Korea.
“We’re now facing a situation where there’s two nuclear peers,” Gunzinger told Defense News. “We have a nuclear triad that’s sized for a single nuclear peer, Russia.”
Gunzinger said the restoration could probably be done without much difficulty. The necessary wiring is probably still in place, he said, and physical components that had been removed could be re-installed.
“It’s doable, and that’s the beauty of maintaining bombers that can be re-equipped with the appropriate [nuclear weapons] components,” he said. “It’s a hedge against future uncertainty, and we are now in a future where it’s not one that we expected, even just a few short years ago.”
